By Ray Curren
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NEWPORT — Newport coach John Proper admitted he couldn’t avoid flashbacks Saturday afternoon.
Just like a year ago at Maryn Field, it was a warm November day against a team the Tigers had dispatched of easily earlier in the season. Again, Proper was watching his heavily favored team seem to crumble in the NHIAA Division IV semifinals, this time due in large part to injuries, both quarterback Kyle Ashley and running back Tyler Gobin were on the sidelines for much of the second quarter.
But unlike last year’s upset to Fall Mountain, second-seeded Newport answered the call for help at halftime. Ashley and Gobin returned for the third quarter and soon helped set things right, allowing everyone associated with the Tigers to breathe a sigh of relief as they won fairly comfortably in the end, 35-14, over No. 3 Bishop Brady, setting up a highly anticipated final against unbeaten Somersworth Saturday at 1 p.m. in Laconia.
“All week long we talked about that we beat this team by almost 30 points in the regular season, but the playoffs are different,” Proper said. “We didn’t want to get complacent. They threw everything at us, give them credit. But we had some great leadership, seniors stepped up, they didn’t want to go out like last year.”
Everything seemed to be going according to plan to start the proceedings Saturday, Newport (7-1) dominated the line of scrimmage, leading to Ashley and Gobin scoring the first two touchdowns and putting the Tigers up 14-0. Gobin appeared to be on his way for a second at the end of the first quarter but went out with an elbow injury. Fellow senior Eric Wilkinson finished off the drive to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter but things soon began to unravel for the Tigers.
The Giants (4-4) all but abandoned running the ball (they only rushed for 9 yards on the day with just 10 attempts), but junior quarterback Todd Sheppard found his mark, hitting Hayden LaFleur for one touchdown, then Christopher Grimbilas for another, and suddenly it was 21-14.
“They’re one of the best, if not the best, run defenses we’ve seen in this division this season,” Bishop Brady coach Brendan Johnson said. “They made it tough on us, and that made it tough to do too much offensively on the ground.”
Things went from bad to worse for Newport on its next possession when Ashley was the victim of a helmet-to-helmet tackle (a personal foul was given), which opened up a big gash over his nose. The Tigers fumbled twice without him but were fortunate to recover both and limped to halftime with a lead that looked perilous at best.
“Everything was going the way we wanted to, we came out firing,” Proper said. “Then Gobin goes down with a little bit of an injury and we made a mistake they capitalized on. I told them before the game that I don’t think any team can beat them other than themselves. In the second quarter, we were beating ourselves, I thought.”
But Gobin and Ashley were both cleared for the second half (Ashley periodically came out of the game to reapply gauze and bandages to his face), and Newport got a bit of a break as the wind picked up dramatically for the second half, making it much tougher for Sheppard to find his marks. The Giants’ most effective offensive plays were Newport pass interference calls.
After forcing a punt to start the second half (Bishop Brady kicker/punter Christopher Messmore was impressive anyway, but with the wind hit a punt 63 yards into the Newport end zone in the air), Newport went 80 yards on nine plays, Gobin plunging in from 5 yards out to make it 27-14 with 5:46 left in the third quarter.
Senior Tommy Spiker intercepted a tipped Sheppard pass two plays later and Gobin was back in the end zone for his fourth score of the afternoon just 61 seconds after his last one, allowing everyone in black and orange to finally relax a little bit.
The Giants had a couple of fairly lengthy second-half drives, including one late that got to the Newport 13-yard line, but sophomore Gabe Howe got to Sheppard and his fluttering pass was picked off by fellow sophomore Christian Forsythe, allowing Proper to give Gobin and Ashley some much needed rest and the Tigers to run out the clock.
The attention now turns to the finals everyone associated with both programs has looked forward to next Saturday. Newport crushed Somersworth in the 2020 final, despite having to go on the road to do it, but after Newport was upset, the Hilltoppers rolled to the 2021 title. On Sept. 30 of this year, Somersworth dominated Newport, 35-7, back in Somersworth.
“First time, Somersworth punched us in the mouth, and we didn’t react. We got there late, didn’t have our full warmup, it was their Homecoming, we had a lot going against us,” Proper said. “But if I had to pick a game to lose, that was probably it. The pressure is off us now. We’re not undefeated and Somersworth has rolled over anyone. We’ll be ready.”
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